Lottery fraud charges a family affair

Jeremy N. Montejano, 24, of Wake Forest, was charged with seven counts of obtaining property by false pretense. He was released after posting a $10,000 bond.

According to warrants, Montejano tried to cash more than $2,300 in stolen lottery tickets at stores between November 2008 and last August. One warrant said he tried to defraud the North Carolina Education Lottery of another $1,000 by trying to cash in winning tickets that he never bought.

The State Bureau of Investigation said the case started in September with an embezzlement case involving Lowes Foods.

Montejano's mother, Patricia Barakat, is alleged to have embezzled $389,000 worth of lottery tickets from the Lowes Foods grocery stores where she had been employed, at 8440 Louisburg Road in Raleigh and 12524 Capital Blvd. in Wake Forest, according to Jennifer Canada, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Justice.

Barakat, 44, of Raleigh, was charged last fall with one count of embezzlement and eight counts of obtaining property by false pretense.

Barakat's daughter, Corey Ann Montejano, 23, of Raleigh, was charged with nine counts of obtaining property by false pretense. Mother and daughter tried to cash in more than $37,000 in winning lottery tickets at various supermarkets between March 2008 and last September, authorities said.

The Youngsville Police Department said Jeremy Montejano has been placed on unpaid administrative leave.

Canada said the investigation into the stolen lottery tickets is ongoing.